thanksgiving day

thanksgiving day started with a lovely little morning hike and then we found ourselves at casa de awesome for the usual festivities...

mule rides and skeet shooting.  finn thought it was heaven.  he is absolutely fascinated (bordering on obsession) with anything that sits on wheels.  it equally cracks me up and blows my mind (living proof that inherent gender differences do in fact exist :).

daddy's shoulders is (are?) his favorite place to sit.  and i love how is little hands either gently cup ryan's head, or hang on tightly to his ears. or sometimes he gets crazy and throws his hands in the air!

the feast.  like every year....divine, gourmet, and a perfect combination of everything you would expect at a thanksgiving supper, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

how i love this big table.  and everyone that sits down at it.

friendsgiving

after talking about hosting a friendsgiving for years....we finally did it! 

 

i challenged myself to keep it simple: craft cute stuff, use things we had, borrow what we didn't and not fuss over every detail.  and it was so refreshing, especially when every holiday aisle at target is so utterly tempting.   but i had such fun doing late night grocery store trips and pulling out the fancy stuff from the top shelf to set our table.  

and what really made it nice is that everyone brought parts of the meal to help make it a feast.  which was perfect because roasting my first turkey made this mrs. a little nervous!  but pioneer woman and her brining recipe delievered an edible bird - which is all that i was really aiming for!  and christy's stuffing pretty much changed my life.  i won't even tell you how many times i went back for more.

when we get together it is always crazy and loud.  sometimes kids hit each other.  sometimes i spill turkey drippings all over the floor.  little boys get in the mud.     but it all just seems to add color and laughter. i am always in awe over how much fun i have with these people.... like it just gets louder and better each time. 

i hope we do friendsgiving every year. 

 

 

 

 

 

family hike

one of the best things about our westward move has been the hills that surround me once again!  although i will always love my sacramento...being able to walk out my door and see hillsides has been so comforting...like home. 

 

last weekend we visited lagoon valley park and finn was thrilled to see the birds that swarmed around us as soon as we got out of the car.  it made me a bit uneasy, however.

my boys in fleece.

bonus: this place has swings too.

and a lovely, perfectly difficult hiking trail.

with views that took our breath away.  so did pushing that stroller.  i tried to give ryan a break for a bit, but only lasted about fifty yards.  sheesh. 

king of the world!  well, my king anyway.

we let finn out of the stroller at the end, but all he wanted to do was eat rocks.  and look really cute.

are you dying over his hat?  landra is one talented knitter :)

we can't wait to go back.

 

 

 

lately...

this fall feels like one big blurrrrrrrrrrr, full of somewhat controlled chaos, and big, exciting changes for our little family.   moving took nearly everything out of me.  as it always does.  but finn and ryan handled it like champs.  i wish i was as easy going as these two...

 

grandpa had a big birthday.  and a big party to match it! 

we had our last sacramento playdate with the caldwell boys. 

 

 

we went to the pumpkin patch about fifty times.  and each time was too much fun.

i dressed finn in these overalls a ridiculous number of times this fall.  just so i could stare at this legs and take a million pictures.

we had our first playdates with dylan and rocky in the 'ville!

finn has been spending a lot of time trying to figure stuff out lately.  i love watching him study things.

we are all obsessed with the lemon tree that drapes over our new backyard fence.  until the neighbors chopped it down a few days ago.  i cried and asked them to spare it.  they didn't and i am certain they believe i am completely crazy. 

sara mary had a big birthday and a big party too!  something about a good house party... somehow we ended up playing beer pong.  oh boy.

this beauty and her boys. 

 

first playdate with logan and baby hunter in the 'ville!

halloweenie

our little finn was an owl this year.  barely.  i had to cram a couple of late night errand running and sewing machine drama in, but thanks to martha stewart's creative tutorials and my grandma solving my bobbin woes - we just made it!

 

and i couldn't get over him.  hence the 164 pictures i took in a matter of three hours.  the boots, the hat and my little boy in tights - it was just too much.

a witch is about the easiest costume, i am convinced.  and ryan had fun with the fake blood.  although i am not sure what he is.  just scary, i guess.  we had to make use out of those overalls again from last year.

 

we were invited to tante cory's spooky bash again.  and it was perfect.  again. of course. 

everything was delicious and expertly decorated...

 

and we ended the night with tante and papa playing finn's favorite game:  smell my feet.  he thinks it is the funniest thing EVER. such a boy.

and the best treat of the night was that our drive home was only thirty minutes! thanks to the fact that we are now living in the 'ville :)